As many of you are keenly aware, last weekend was Easter. Most likely you gathered around your grandmas, parents, or even your own table to share a meal together. We live thousands of miles away from our family tables where those meals are happening, and we can picture everything so clearly in our minds, it almost does feel like I can smell my Aunt Mary's fresh baked bread wafting through the kitchen. We are, however, fortunate enough to be a part of someone else's family table here in Connecticut. A table where everyone squeezes in, and babies flank the corners with yogurt covered faces and the tiny cut up green beans mixed with cherrios and juice. Where a princess placemat serves as a placecard for the tiniest guests, and the yellow chair is a hot commodity. Where board games come out along side the last bites of dessert, and guests turned friends are endured to one other over glasses of wine, cups of coffee and the last pours of a local brew.

breadandwineshaunaniequist

Shauna Niequist's new book, Bread and Wine, is truly a love letter to life around a table such as this. Her voice through the pages is so genuine, her stories so vivid and her choice of recipes give fresh vision & guidance to life's basic needs: nourishment for body, and nourishment for soul.

"The table reminds us that we're human, that God gave us a sense of hunger - and that's a good thing. It's like an internal timer that sends us back to this meeting place, this place where we can connect and be nourished, not only by the food, but by the conversations that we have there."

So even more so on that sunny cold Saturday, Andrew and I were hungry. For that family dinner, however perfect the appetizers laid out to however messy the table abandoned by the kids to return to their playtime. And we're blessed enough to say we are nourished. -- So before you open another tab to pre-order this lovely book on Amazon, know that I'm giving away a copy of Bread & Wine. Giveaway is open from 8am to 8pm (EST), Friday, April 5th. You will receive the book the day it's released, Tuesday, April 9th (either hardcopy or Kindle version - your choice). Simply tell me this, when you come to the table, how are you nourished? A favorite recipe? A favorite group of people? What do you taste, smell, or see?

Nigella's Flourless Chocolate Brownies from Shauna Niequist's Bread & Wine These brownies were the perfect addition to our Easter dinner around the table, and trust me even after scraping the dish clean - we dove in for seconds long after dessert was over. Try sticking them in the fridge for round two - divine.

Ingredients 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon almond extract 3 eggs, beaten 1 1/2 cups almond meal or ground almonds 1 cup walnuts, chopped

InstructionsPreheat the oven to 325 degrees. Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat in a saucepan, stirring until glossy and smooth.

Take the pan off the burner, mix in the vanilla, sugar, and almond extract, and let it cool for just a few minutes.

Stir the eggs into the saucepan, then add the ground almonds and chopped walnuts and stir again. The batter will be a little grainy at this point because of the almonds, but don't worry a bit.

Pour batter into an 8 by 8 pan, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top has set but the brownies are still a little wiggly. Let cool completely, then cut into 16 small squares. *let me tell you we cut these into 8 SQUARES. Still good? Better. :) *I didn't have almond extract so I doubled the vanilla *I didn't have enough chocolate chips, so I subbed 1/2 cup cocoa powder and 1/2 cup chocolate chips *we did one with and without walnuts, both were delicious in their own ways with their own personality!

Shauna Niequist is the author of Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet, and Bread & Wine. Shauna grew up in Barrington, Illinois, and then studied English and French Literature at Westmont College in Santa Barbara. She is married to Aaron, who is a pianist and songwriter. Aaron is a worship leader at Willow Creek and is recording a project called A New Liturgy. Aaron & Shauna live outside Chicago with their sons, Henry and Mac. Shauna writes about the beautiful and broken moments of everyday life--friendship, family, faith, food, marriage, love, babies, books, celebration, heartache, and all the other things that shape us, delight us, and reveal to us the heart of God.

Since we got a KitchenAid for Christmas this year (Thanks Auntie Teri!!) I have been way more motivated to bake. The work is already done for me when whipping egg whites, making frosting, and especially when making the angel food cake batter and frosting for this recipe.I get the Martha Stewart Everyday Food emails well...everyday. And yesterday as I was cruising the website I noticed Martha had a whole feature on lemons.I came across an angel food cake recipe that looked so beautiful and delicious in the picture. I love angel food cake: it's light, fluffy, melts in your mouth. Tasty. Of course I've only ever made the boxed ones, so here was my hand at trying to make my first angel food cake.Now, let me tell you about my angel food adventure. Martha says..." Transfer batter to a 10-inch angel food cake pan with legs."Translation in my mind: Isn't a tube pan a less fancy bundt pan?So I begin my adventure after work to find a cheap tube pan. Surely any thrift store in the Chicagoland area with a pretty wide variety of kitchenware should have at least ONE.I went to 3 different thrift stores. Of course everyone has a plethora of bundt pans to donate to the Salvation Army...probably because they once tried to make an angelfood cake that stuck to it and thought "What is the point of owning this."After 90 minutes of driving to my favorite thrift stores: nada. I finally drag myself to Target before Andrew needs the car to go to a meeting: they have ONE tube pan. PRAISE the Lord.Whats the point of jabbering on about bundt pans vs. tube variety?The cake will simply not come out of your fancy schmanzy bundt pan.Oh, and the cake was a tasty snack today at work!Also in other news, my new memory card came! My C. Rebel is back in business!Onward to the recipe!

Lemony Angel Food Cake recipe by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Makes one 10-inch cake; Serves 10 to 12for the cake

• 1 cup sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 12 large egg whites
• 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

for the lemon cream 'frosting'

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (if you don't want it really lemony, you could use refrigerated lemons since their taste isn't as forceful as freshly squeezed..but don't you want fresh!?)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cake flour (not self-rising)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, chilled
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

Directions

1. Make the cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with rack in lower third of oven. Sift flour and 1/2 cup sugar into a bowl.
2. Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until frothy, about 1 minute. Add lemon zest and juice, cream of tartar, vanilla, and salt; continue whisking until soft peaks form, about 2 1/2 minutes. With mixer running, gradually add remaining cup sugar.
3. Increase speed to medium-high; continue whisking until firm, not stiff, peaks form, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle whites with 1/3 of the flour-sugar mixture. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold to combine. Sprinkle remaining flour-sugar mixture over whites in 2 additions; gently fold to combine.
4. Transfer batter to a 10-inch angel food cake pan with legs. Gently run a knife through the center of the batter to remove any air bubbles. Bake until a tester inserted into center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.
5. Remove pan from oven, and invert onto its cooling legs (if your tube pan doesn't have legs, invert it over the neck of a wine, or similarly shaped, bottle to cool)**; let cool, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Run a knife around the inner and outer edges of cake to remove. Invert onto a serving platter. (Use a knife to separate cake from bottom of pan.) Let cool on a wire rack. Unfrosted cake can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
6. Make the lemon cream: Prepare an ice-water bath. Whisk lemon juice, sugar, flour, and salt in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil; whisk constantly for 1 minute, until it thickens. Transfer to a heatproof bowl set in ice-water bath to cool completely, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk cream and lemon zest with a mixer on medium speed until medium peaks form, about 3 minutes. Gently fold whipped cream into juice mixture in thirds. Refrigerate lemon cream, up to overnight.

**Turning the cake upside-down on a bottle of wine, or on it's legs is important: don't skip this. If the pan is resting right-side-up, gravity will do it's work and collapse the cake on top of itself.Don't worry: like I said before, the cake will not fall out of the pan if you have done everything right. Gravity will work in the right direction to keep the cake tall when resting on the bottle...just pop the middle hole through the bottleneck.